OPINION | USA | FREE SPEECH
Proud Palestinian American
Rashida Tlaib is attacked to make an example of her and silence the rest of us, put our loyalty in question, and make us hide our origin. …
Oct. 12, 2023
A few days ago, an article surfaced bashing Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib for displaying the Palestinian flag, alongside the US flag, in her office. I don’t usually support or glorify politicians, but I feel an urgent need to address this, especially given the broader campaign of vilifying Palestinians in order to justify Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. (The article failed to mention the 500 other people in Congress who raise the Israeli flag at every opportunity.)
As a Palestinian American, I have a long experience with being singled out at airports and elsewhere because of my identity. “Born in Jerusalem? Step aside please.” My US passport means nothing. The 4-hour search and interrogation in a special room is routine. I write about all that in my #book Fugitive Dreams: Chronicles of Occupation and Resistance.
“I wished I could change my birthplace like people change names — some ‘Anytown, Ohio’, or ‘Timbuktu’, or ‘Fiji’, or anywhere in the world where normal people come from, and could go about their business without getting harassed. Can’t I enjoy one normal flight?”
Being one of the few women in a male-dominated institution, I am sure Congresswoman Tlaib got singled out for more than one reason. We’ve seen it all too clearly in the past year, with Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who was made to eat her words calling the truth about Israel’s institutionalized racism, or Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who was stripped of her important post on the foreign relations committee because of her support for human rights in Palestine. All three of them are women of color, from marginalized communities. All three of them, outspoken about Palestine.
When I first came to the US, I had to hide my Palestinian identity because of the unfavorable image Arabs and Palestinians had at the time — a product of decades of defamation. Tlaib’s outspokenness and display of the Palestinian flag brings pride and hope to all Palestinian Americans, inspiring my daughter and sending the message that she belongs. America is a country of immigrants and every immigrant should be free to proudly display their identity, even in the halls of Congress.
Tlaib is attacked to make an example of her and silence the rest of us, put our loyalty in question, and make us hide our origin. Such xenophobic attacks should be of concern to every immigrant regardless of where they came from. Today, Rashida bravely stood on the steps of the Capitol in support of Palestine. She was the only one there, but with the entire Palestinian American community behind her.
With love from Palestine,
© Ramsey Hanhan, 2023
